Haute Route’s first event of 2020, Haute Route Oman, started Friday 6 March in Nizwa, Oman, while Haute Route Qingcheng in China has been cancelled.
The second edition of the 3-day Haute Route Oman started in epic style. For stage 1 riders took on an 84km vertical challenging route that included the daunting Akhdar climb with 14km averaging 10.3%.
Out of 120 riders Britains Colin Peck, Paul Wilcock and Alex Sherwin rode away from the field to claim the stage podium. Peck finished with an official time of 02:43:49, Wilcock 02:59:57 and Sherwin 03:05:20.
The women’s podium was a bit more international with Laura Patrikainen from Finland winning in 03:24:55, Ireland’s Eimear D’Arcy 2nd in 03:41:18 and Jessica Upton from Britain 3rd in 03:45:24.
Saturday’s stage 2 will take the peloton on a 144km route with 2300 meters vertical, including a 23km climb to the summit of Jebel Haat. On Sunday riders will wrap up the event with a 28km time trial.
Meanwhile, Haute Route has cancelled the next 2020 event, Haute Route Qingchen 24-26 April in China, due to coronavirus outbreak. Chinese authorities have cancelled all sporting events and public gatherings across the country in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. Haute Route has yet to announce a replacement date.
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